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QMI Agency

Oct 24, 2013

, Last Updated: 9:21 PM ET

Nashville Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne will be out of action for up to four weeks with a hip problem.

Rinne will have arthroscopic surgery on his left hip to clear up an “unexpected infection,” the team announced Thursday. The infection is in the same hip he had surgery on in May and is directly related to the procedure, according to Predators general manager David Poile.

Doctors discovered the problem after Rinne complained of a fever following Tuesday’s road game against the Minnesota Wild.

“When (Rinne) got back to Nashville after the plane ride home, he developed some soreness and stiffness in his hip and had a little bit of a fever,” Poile said on the team website. “He came into practice yesterday with a significant limp and was in a fair bit of pain. A series of tests and an MRI determined that he has a spontaneous bacterial infection.

“I’m not a doctor, but in talking with the doctor, they have no idea how this developed five months after the fact. He was healed up and had no significant pain or setbacks.”

Rinne is 4-4-1 with a 2.31 goals-against average and .931 save percentage this season. The Preds called up Magnus Hedberg from Milwaukee of the AHL to take his spot on the roster.

HENRIK IS HURTING

Chalk up Henrik Lundqvist’s slow start to the season to an injury.

The New York Rangers goalie said Thursday he was hurt in the second game of the season, a 3-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings, and has been trying to battle through it. But he hasn’t practiced with the team this week and missed Thursday’s game in Philadelphia.

Lundqvist told Newsday he’s “feeling better” and hopes to skate again Friday after a short on-ice session Thursday after the Rangers workout.

“We’ll take it day-by-day,” he told Newsday. “I don’t know if I’m going to be ready for Saturday. It’s something that’s been around and that’s why I thought this week was a good time to try to get rid of it. I definitely want to feel as close to 100% as possible.”

Lundqvist added that if it was the playoffs, he’d be in the lineup.

NEW IMAGE FOR CANUCKS?

New coach John Tortorella is trying to change the way the rest of the league, and many fans, view the Vancouver Canucks.

Tortorella like nothing more than to have the Canucks shed their image as a team that, let’s say, embellishes transgressions. And, since he’s calling the shots now, he expects it to happen.

“When I wasn’t coaching (in New York), everybody outside thought Vancouver dove and did some whining,” Tortorella said on NHL.com. “Our team is not going to dive. I don’t think there is much whining going on either. It’s my chance to say we’re going to be an honest team, trying to be an honest team, and I hope we get some calls along the way.”

Tortorella says he’s talked to his team about not embellishing calls. The Canucks have had just 29 power plays in 11 games, which Tortorella partly blames on their reputation.

“Sometimes that hangs around,” he said.

MAATTA STAYING UP

The Pittsburgh Penguins will keep rookie defenceman Olli Maatta around a while longer.

The Pens announced Thursday that Maatta will stay in Pittsburgh past the nine-game threshold but did not fully commit to keeping the 19-year-old Finn for the entire year. Had the Pens decided to send Maatta back to junior before he played in 10 games, it would not have burned a year on his entry-level contract, but he can still be returned to the London Knights of the OHL at any time this season.

“Based on his play, we believe this is the best decision for Olli and the Penguins,” general manager Ray Shero said on the team’s website.

Maatta, the Penguins’ first-round pick in 2012, has one goal and two assists in nine games this season.

MCLEOD DISAGREES

Colorado Avalanche forward Cody McLeod knows where the NHL is coming from in handing him a five-game suspension.

But he doesn’t have to like it.

“I can see where the NHL is coming from,” McLeod told the Denver Post. “They want to get rid of the injuries and I respect that, but I don’t necessarily agree with the length of time. But it’s out of my hands and we’ll just move on.”

McLeod picked up the suspension, the first of his NHL career, for pasting Detroit Red Wings defenceman Niklas Kronwall into the boards last week. Despite being the victim, Kronwall accepted part of the blame for putting himself in a vulnerable position.

“It was good to hear that he was a bit at fault too,” McLeod said. “Like I said, I don’t want to hurt anyone out there. As a third- or fourth-line player, it’s my job to go out and finish my checks. It’s too bad it happened like that.”

BRIEFLY

Injured San Jose Sharks defenceman Dan Boyle took part in the team’s morning skate in Boston Thursday but didn’t play against the Bruins. He’s missed four games with an upper-body injury, believed to be a concussion, after taking a shot to the head from St. Louis Blues forward Maxim Lapierre ... Pittsburgh Penguins defenceman Kris Letang is expected to make his season debut Friday against the New York Islanders. Letang missed the first nine games with a lower-body injury suffered in a practice last month.